With the rise of mobile computing, consumers may now access the Internet from anywhere. Mobile computing devices such as cellular telephones, tablet computers, e-book readers, and the like have become a ubiquitous part of everyday life. However, the ability to access the Internet from these devices also brings the various dangers of the Internet to these devices. Untrusted sources for mobile applications may offer malicious applications for download. Furthermore, trusted sources, such as digital distribution platforms (or “application stores”) for some mobile platforms, may sometimes inadvertently host malware. Additionally, malicious web pages may exploit vulnerabilities in web browser software that may allow malware to be downloaded to a user's mobile computing device.
Traditional anti-malware techniques may attempt to combat malware by searching application package files for specific strings and/or byte code sequences. However, these traditional techniques may be costly to perform on mobile platforms. Furthermore, these traditional techniques may be ineffective because malware authors may regularly modify their malware in an attempt to circumvent commonly employed static-string-based malware-detection mechanisms. Accordingly, the instant disclosure identifies a need for additional and improved systems and methods for detecting malware variants.